5 Classic Gym Exercises You Should Stop Doing Right Away

Well, this is surely going to start a lot of debate but it is what it is. Some of the most common or better said, classic gym exercises are actually ruining your joint and muscle health and you don’t even know. Here are 5 of the worst exercises you have been doing for the longest time.

1) Leg Extensions

A classic for the leg day lovers, Leg Extensions not only exert sheer force on knee caps but also promote no whatsoever hamstring activity. The more the weight, the more are the chances of sustaining a knee injury. The ACL is constantly at a high risk too. Moreover, there are hardly any real life benefits of this exercise except for kicking movements.

2) Chest Fly

It’s hard to fathom the amount of strain doing chest fly, placed on the chest tendons and the rotator cuff. There’s always a high risk of getting the rotator cuff torn. Also, it might pump up the pectoral muscles but then again, the chances of getting them torn as well are drastically high. Better use it as a warm up rather than a full session.

Replace it with – dips and push-up variations.

3) Behind The Neck Shoulder Press/ Behind The Neck Barbell Press

It’s simple: with this exercise, you are making your shoulders work in a motion that they are not made for. The stress on the rotator cuff is extremely high and most of the time it’s nearly impossible to achieve the right form.

5) Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown

The most common sight in the gym, this move puts your shoulder health at maximum risk. Lat pulldown makes the shoulder rotator cuff rotate externally, which again, it’s not meant to do, ultimately choking your shoulder in a very sensitive position.